GOLDEN — A Jefferson County school board member who is a state legislative candidate has been arrested for allegedly slapping and choking his teenage daughter.

Vince Chowdhury, 48, has been charged with third-degree assault and harassment in connection with the June 17 incident and with contempt of court for an alleged violation of a protective order for sending two e-mails to his wife.

Chowdhury was arrested by responding officers and spent the night in the Jefferson County Jail. He was advised of charges June 18 and bonded out. A pretrial conference is set for Tuesday.

According to the arrest affidavit, Chowdhury became angry when his wife and daughter did not quickly open the garage door when he honked his car horn.

Katherine Chowdhury and her daughter apologized, but they said Chowdhury started slapping his 16-year-old daughter’s face, the affidavit said.

The daughter backed away, but Chowdhury began to choke her with both hands, the affidavit said. The daughter told police she bit one of his hands in self-defense before her mother attempted to pull him off of her.

The affidavit said the girl then locked herself in her bedroom until deputies arrived.

Chowdhury told deputies he just “lost it” when his wife and daughter did not hear him honking the horn in the driveway, the affidavit said.

Chowdhury admitted to slapping his daughter, but he denied choking her, the affidavit said. When asked about the bite wound on his hand, he told deputies his daughter bit him when he was slapping her.

“His desire is to resolve this relatively quickly,” said his attorney, Dave Thomas, a fellow Jeffco school-board member and former Jeffco district attorney. “He’s a school board member and is in a House race.”

Chowdhury, a Democrat, is running for the House District 22 seat and faces a primary in August. He has served on the school board for seven years.

Thomas said Chowdhury is not living in the family’s south Jefferson County home, adding: “He’s doing OK. It’s a difficult time for the whole family.”